Attention poetry mavens: any suggestions for good contemporary poets (either in general or particular collections)? Have sudden appetite but very little idea where to start. Any advice welcome!
A friend once said that the thing she loved about Japan was that the Japanese loved every season, and made a great effort to celebrate holidays and seasons with specific rituals. As a person who enjoys holidays, and who finds meaning participating in the ritual of the Christian year, I feel a kinship with the Japanese. As humans, we respond to the larger, uncontrollable mysteries of life with stories, with food, with a renewed sense of connection to each other and to the world around us.
It is easy, with the early darkness and the frost on our windshields and the necessity of coats and thicker socks, to complain about the dying of the year and the coming of winter.
Here is a must-read this time of year: Tove Jansson’s Moominvalley in November. Where her other Moomin books have been characterized by happy bohemianism and quirky, midsummer adventures, this book is not afraid to deal with the stark and empty season that comes once a year.
It is raining steadily upon the tall dark trees. D…
It is easy, with the early darkness and the frost on our windshields and the necessity of coats and thicker socks, to complain about the dying of the year and the coming of winter.
Here is a must-read this time of year: Tove Jansson’s Moominvalley in November. Where her other Moomin books have been characterized by happy bohemianism and quirky, midsummer adventures, this book is not afraid to deal with the stark and empty season that comes once a year.
It is raining steadily upon the tall dark trees. D…
Comments
I'm not sure if you've already read some of their work. But here are a few of my favourite poems, by my favourite contemporary poets.
Marginalia, by Billy Collins : http://www.billy-collins.com/2005/06/marginalia.html
Farewell, by Agha Shahid Ali :
http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.in/2002/12/farewell-agha-shahid-ali.html
Leaving and Leaving You, by Sophie Hannah :
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/leaving-and-leaving-you/
- Shruti
http://www.stpetershigh.org.uk/DEPARTMENTS/ENGLISH_DEPT/PRUSH/KS4_Resources/Freshwater/Motion_Freshwaterstuff/Freshwater.html
Daniel Berrigan - Selected & New Poems - the well known social activist and Jesuit priest, who served time in jail for such activities as burning draft records and pouring blood on nuclear warheads. I recently discovered this book in a small used book store (the best kind) in Sandpoint, Idaho and have been consistently floored by his poems, ranging from his stark early religious imagery to his final moving series about his friend Thomas Merton.
Christian Wiman - Every Riven Thing - I came across this amazing poet - also the editor of Poetry magazine - after reading his essay about his incurable disease in Image magazine.
Dana Gioia - Pity the Beautiful
Richard Skelton - ok, this guy is great, especially if you love the uk countryside - check his web site Corbal Stone Press to get an idea of his work. I first came across his work in a musical context via a cover story in The Wire music magazine - in an attempt to confront his grief over the early death of his first wife, he immersed himself in the countryside and wrote an incredible series of poems and prose fragments, in addition to composing sad drones which he recorded in the open moors. Can't rave enough...